


versions of the future

by seeingrightly



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 05:44:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21010700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: A lot of their clients live in Elmdale, and the drive back and forth can get tedious. There aren’t many roads available to take from one small town to the other, but Patrick likes to switch it up sometimes. David thinks it’s because Patrick is from a more suburban area than this, and hasn’t lived in cities like David has; Patrick has hope that things can be made more interesting here if he tries hard enough. By now David knows it’s true, but it always takes him by surprise anyway.They’re taking an unfamiliar route back from Elmdale. David suspects they must have taken it before, but the roads all look pretty much the same to him, so he wouldn’t know. He likely wouldn’t recognize the road they usually take if not for the Now Entering Schitt’s Creek sign. They pass a sign advertising a pumpkin patch a little bit further up the road, and the car slows down. David turns to look at Patrick, whose mouth is pursed in thought.





	versions of the future

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theverytiredgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theverytiredgirl/gifts).

> this takes place vaguely late s4 i guess, i dont know, its pre-christmas-special
> 
> melissa prompted me with "pumpkin patch" and "raking leaves" which were hard to combine but I Did It

A lot of their clients live in Elmdale, and the drive back and forth can get tedious. There aren’t many roads available to take from one small town to the other, but Patrick likes to switch it up sometimes. David thinks it’s because Patrick is from a more suburban area than this, and hasn’t lived in cities like David has; Patrick has hope that things can be made more interesting here if he tries hard enough. By now David knows it’s true, but it always takes him by surprise anyway.

They’re taking an unfamiliar route back from Elmdale. David suspects they must have taken it before, but the roads all look pretty much the same to him, so he wouldn’t know. He likely wouldn’t recognize the road they usually take if not for the Now Entering Schitt’s Creek sign. They pass a sign advertising a pumpkin patch a little bit further up the road, and the car slows down. David turns to look at Patrick, whose mouth is pursed in thought.

“Is it worth trying to talk you out of whatever idea you came up with that’s going to ruin my very expensive shoes?” David asks.

“They’re just not the same, David,” Patrick says, already several steps into the debate. “Grocery store pumpkins are weak. Customers can sense if you buy your pumpkins at the grocery store.”

“And why are customers  _ sensing _ things about pumpkins... at all?” David asks.

“Because it’s October, David,” Patrick says gravely, and he turns down the side road toward the pumpkin patch.

“Uh huh,” David says, nodding and clasping his hands and adjusting his conception of what the store will look like for the foreseeable future. “Okay. Okay.”

There’s a patch of dirt for a parking lot and a large field with a few hand-painted signs and a few very related-looking people David assumes run the place. In the distance, there’s a farmhouse. It reminds David of when he stayed with the Amish family, a bit, so he wonders if there’s food. 

Once David steps gingerly out of the car, Patrick begins to look a little more relaxed. David puts an arm around his shoulders as they walk toward the field.

“Is it important to you?” he asks. “To decorate for holidays?”

“I’m surprised it’s not important to you,” Patrick replies, scanning the field. “I figured first of the month, you’d have a whole list of expectations for how we were gonna decorate. How to make it fit the  _ aesthetic _ .”

“Hm,” David says. “ _ Is _ there a way to make commercial holidays fit the image we’re trying to cultivate?”

“Customers expect it,” Patrick says, and then, a little quieter, “and I think it’s nice.”

David wants desperately for a moment to lean in and kiss Patrick on the side of the head. He’s not sure if he should, so he takes a deep breath and rubs his hand up and down his arm a little bit instead.

“You don’t have decorations up at your place,” he says, pushing Patrick gently toward the field.

“I mean, it’s just a bedroom,” Patrick says, picking his way thoughtfully through the rows of pumpkins. “That’s no fun to decorate. I figured, with the storefront - you know, there’s a stoop to put pumpkins on, there’s windows, lots of counter space. And don’t get me wrong, I think Ray would appreciate it, but a bigger audience makes it feel a little more worthwhile. That’s the main thing I miss about living at my parents’ house.”

“Decorating?” David asks, watching Patrick lean down to inspect pumpkins.

“Yeah,” Patrick says. “I liked helping with the yard, too. My mom has window boxes full of flowers and a little garden in a corner of the backyard.”

“Did you have to mow the lawn?” David asks, amused, picturing a scrawny little version of Patrick with his sleeves rolled up and a serious expression on his face as he does yardwork. “Clean the gutters?”

“Sure,” Patrick says, standing up and handing a medium-sized pumpkin to David even though it’s dirty. “And I bet you’ve never raked leaves in your life, right? You missed out.”

“On what?” David asks, but he’s picturing that too, only this time it’s Patrick at his current age, in a flannel instead of a crisp button-up, raking leaves in a front lawn.

David’s never pictured living in anything but an apartment, aside from the home he grew up in, even since moving to Schitt’s Creek. He never imagined he’d have any of the things that lead to homeownership, aside from money. In the quiet moments where he lets himself picture versions of the future that include Patrick, this remains true.

But he pictures it now, Patrick working on the lawn, Patrick planting flowers, Patrick tapping on the window to get David’s attention and trying to spray David with the hose and pulling David into whatever he’s doing. It sends something like chills down his spine. He can picture it clearly - Patrick convincing David to let him decorate the house for holidays, as long as David approves it all. It doesn’t look so different from running the store together - running a home. Sharing a life.

Patrick hands him another pumpkin, and he startles, almost losing the first pumpkin in the process, but Patrick’s hands are quick.

“Steady?” he asks, amused, before he pulls away.

No, David thinks, but he nods and holds the pumpkins close. There’s mud on his hands and sweater and shoes. David’s done things he didn’t really want to do for people before. The thing about Patrick is that he cares if David doesn’t want to; he cares about why David doesn’t want to and expects David to care about why he does. He wants to have that conversation. He listens. He’ll help David wipe the mud off of his shoes later. He’ll kiss him in thanks for going along with the trip. He’ll decorate the store in a way they’re both satisfied with. David doesn’t want to be here, but he also does, because Patrick wants to be here, and David doesn’t think that’s him doing what he did in the past. This is balanced.

He takes a breath. Not so unsteady after all.

“You think Ray would let you install window boxes?” he asks, and Patrick laughs, and then stops abruptly.

“You know, I think he would love that, actually, which is why I’m not gonna ask,” he says, and David laughs too.

Patrick grabs two more pumpkins pretty quickly, and David stands a little impatiently next to him as he pays, his arms growing more tired by the second. Once they’re loaded into the trunk of Patrick’s car, he grabs a container of wipes and they clean their hands. Then, before David can turn to get into the car, Patrick stops him with a hand on his arm, his expression serious. David doesn’t think he’s been acting very unhappy during this little trip, but - he also hasn’t given Patrick a reason to feel steady. He’s not the only one who needs that. When Patrick opens his mouth to speak, David cuts him off with a kiss.

“Oh,” Patrick says quietly. “Okay, good.”

“Good,” David says, and he gets into the car.

The rest of the drive back to Schitt’s Creek doesn’t look familiar. David doesn’t think he’ll be able to recognize this road again once the signs for the pumpkin patch are gone, but he wants to. He wants to be reminded of this feeling when he drives by. It feels like something he can’t think about all the time yet, this slice of the future, this steady feeling in his chest, but he thinks he can allow himself to think about it whenever they drive to and from Elmdale, unsure if he’s on the same road and not really caring, looking out the window and thinking about pumpkins and leaves and a home.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twitter @ [coralbluenmbr5](https://twitter.com/coralbluenmbr5)


End file.
